Gate



May 1930' J. s. STRINGFELLOW 1,757,025

Filed Oct. 25. 192B 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 aim M4011:

JOHN s. sTnIn rELLow, or LinDsiiY, VIRGINIA .1

GATE

' Application filed October 25, 1928. "Serial Nb, 314,962.

"IO the provision'of novel. meansifor effecting automatic return of the gate to closed posi-- tion, and also the provision ofa structure which will permit the gate to beswung in a horizontal plane as well as in a vertical plane to permit pedestrians to pass or permit the passage of horses and their riders; The invention seeks further to provide a gate'which will be light but strong and which will effectually operate in heavy weather or when the ground is covered with snow. lhese stated objects, and other objects which will appear incidentally in the course of the following description, are attained in such astructure as is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel teatu'res which will be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings: 7 I Figur-e'l is a perspective view of a gate embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a sectionalplevation showing the manner in which the gate is' opened by an automobile to permit the passage of the automobile, i 1 l Fig. 3 is'a detail perspective view ofthe means whereby the gate is mounted;

4: is an enlarged-sectional elevation of the device for holding the gate lowered or open until the automobile has fully cleared the same,

5 is an enlarged transverse section of the structure shown'in Fig. 4, I

Fig. 6 is an enlargeddetail of a portionof' the means for counter balancing the gate and normally holding itclosed,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged letail sectional view through an end of the gate and the adjacent post, and V v 'Fige8 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a modified structure spacedffrom the posts 2, preferably in the Disposedabove the sill 5 and'normally restdesired, a wear plate upon which the bar may -me1nbers of the gate. This frame member 12 fmay be formed iromtubular material .or may In carrying out tlie'inventio n, there is proi vided at'theopposite sides of: a roadway, in-

vdicated at 1, uprights or posts 2 which may form the terminals of a fence Sand atpoints line of the fence, are stakes'or shorter posts, one of which is shown ate; Extending. across the roadway in alinement withthe posts 2 is a sill 5 whichmaycbe of any approved tormand maybe buried flush with the surface of the roadway or may be permitted to extend above the roadway and have its side ledgesbeveled or otherwise shapedto permit easy passage of vehicle wheels thereover.

ing-thereon is a supplemental sill or bottom gate bar 6 which is provided at one end with a slot or elongated opening 7 to receive a pin or stud 8 fixed in the sill 5 and rising therefrom to constitute a vertical pivot for the gate when the occasion arises. At theopposite end of the sill 5 11s a similar studor pin 9 which, however, i'sf-of less heightand which is' re ceived within a slot "10 in the bottom gate bar 6; the end of the-slotrlO' being closed by a keeper plate 11' of any convenient or approved form. The slot '7 may taper downwardly through the bottom bar 6 and on' the under side of said bar there may be provided, it so so rock when it is necessary to clear the stud "9. The gate frame "consists of a member 12 formed into substantially an open rectangle and constituting the'top, bottom and end be a light rod, the only necessity being that it will besutliciently strong and durable without-having excessive weight. Upon the lower run 13 ofithelframemember 2 aresecured spaced clampsul l which have their lower portions formed into eyes or,,,sleeves 15,, I and 'fixedto the bottom gate'bar 6 are pintle ele ments or hooks 16 which extend longitudinally of said gate barin spaced relation to the top of the same and spaced apart a disstance corresponding to the spacing of the clamps 14 whereby the clamps may be slid endwise :into engagement with the pintle hooks and then serve to retain the gate in proper position over the gate bar 6, and it will be obviousthat, whenthe sleeves 15 and the pintles 16. are so engaged, the gate may rock in a vertical plane about the pintles'as pivots. It will also be understood that if,

for any reason, it be desired to operate the gate in ahorizontal plane all that needs to be done is o if t e ga ff i y to permi thebar 6 to clear the pin or stud 9, a slight longitudinal oscillation of the gate to eilect such clearance being permitted by the elongated form of the slot? which receives the pin or stud 8. The pin or stud 8 is of such vertical dimension that it will always have some part within the slotzor opening 7 and after the stud 9 has been cleared the gate may be swung horizontally about the pin 8' as a pivot.

While. the detail structureof the tence immaterial, itmay be noted that it has been number and so spaced that they will efiectuali l-y'prevent the passage of straying animals and provide a gate of} ample strength while minimizing wind resistance. At intermediate points in the-length of the gate, I secure thereto, track members or. ladders, indicated generally by. the numeral 18, which are so. spaced that they will be presented to the wheels of an automobile moving over the roadway 1 centrally or approximately centrally of the roadway. These ladders or track memberscomprise sidebars 19 having their ends formed into loops 20 which are passed around the top and bottom members of the gate frame andhave their ends rivetedor otherwise rigidly secured to their main, portions at-the'inner sides of therespecti ve members of the gate frame. Ektend-ing between the parallel side bars 19 and. fixed thereto; in any approved manner are crossbars or rungs 21 which. may

be provided in any desired number. It will be noted that the side bars "and the rungs he close to the gate wires so that they serve tocounteract any tendency of the wires to. sag orwarp or flex through. use. It will be understood, particularly upon reference to Fig. 2, that in closed position the gate stands upright, as shown in Fig. 1, and the automobile is driven against the gate in the planes of the ladders or track members 18. The gate will, consequently, be caused toswing in a vertical plane away from the vehicle, as shown in Fig. '2, and means are provided, to be presentlydescribed', to counterbalancethe gate and return it to closedposition as wellas toprevent it prematurely closing. It shouldbe observed,

however, at this point that: the track members are. of" suclni tornr thatthey harmonize with fore, do not detract from its'attractiveness V and, moreover, they donot appreciably add to the wind resistance so that. the gate is not apt 2 to be blown down even in very severe winds. l/Vhen the ground is covered with snow or is of a muddy consistency, the form of the ladders or tread members enables them to cut through the snow'or mud so that the latter willnot be packed and will not collect upon thetread membersto cause warping of the gate or of the tread members or add to the dead weight of the same or otherwise interfere with' its easy successful operation.

As clearly shown in the drawings, the posts 2 a re extended above the top of the gate and the fence and the upper end of each post in which is suspended a guide roller or pulley 23,. said; roller or pulley being journaledin theends of a keeper 24 which is suspended from the top of the bracket 22 by a short, Chain the gate frame at the end thereof, as shown at 27. From the pulley 23, the cable extends there is secured abracket or bridle member 22 I downwardly jand outwardly from the post and the gate and has its end secured to the stake or post a at or near the top of the same, the cable being of such length that, when the gate is closed, there will be a consi'derable portionof; the same hanging loosely between thefgate posts 2 and the adjacent cable retaining post 4. Secured upon the cable adacent the end thereof; are a plurality of spaced counter-balance weights 28 which i IOQ preferably successively increase in size ina direction away from the stake or post 4 and.

the length of the cable and-the location of the several weights ;is such that the heaviest weight will be at the bottom of the, loop formed by the cablewhen the gate is closed and the other weights will be disposed at successively higher points along the outer side of the loop, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The 7 lowest weight will be of suflicient capacity to maintain. the gate normally closed in which position it will be nicely balanced. If. no counter-balance were provided, the gate could be very easily pushed over and would move toward the ground with a constantly increasing force and would be apt to strike the ground with such an impact as would bend the gate and be very apt to; damage it to such an extent that it: would not operate. By providing the graduated system ofweights, the downwardly swinging movement of the gate will: bechecked by a gradually increasing force as each successive weight becomes ac-,

tive so that, while there will be a minimum 7 resistance to the opening ofthe gate, there will be afconstantly increasing and elfectual resistance to the opening movement which will attain its maximum force just prior to the gate reaching the ground, and damaging impact with the ground will be thereby avoided. The gate tends to rise and the counter-weights, of course, aid in the rising movemerit as soon as the vehicle has cleared the gate. With afi xed cou'nter-weightot maximum capacity, the gate would be brought up violently and often would-be'carried past the v closing position sothat it would oscillate for a considerable period. With mypresent device, the lifting force is gradually diminished as the gate approaches the closed positiongso' that just as the gate reaches the closing posi tion the lifting force will cease and the gate will come to restwithout oscillating.

A very strong objection to vertically swing mg gates opened, automatically by a passing vehicle has been the tendency of the gates to rise prematurely so that damage to thegate or to the vehicle frequently occurred. -These'ac-.

cidents were frequent with large cars inasmuch as the ifront wheels of the car would clear the gate before the rear wheels engaged the same and the gatewouldswing upward ends, straps 35 being attached to the outer against the chassis or running board or other 7 part of the vehicle and breakage of parts would result. My present invention provides means whereby'the premature closing of the gate is prevented] Midway between the ends of the gate frame, I secure thereto poles 29 which are provided in a pair ex: tending vertically at the opposite sides of the gate and may be of tubular formation. as shown most clearly in Fig 5, and secured to the gate frame by clips 30 passed around the poles above and belowthe respective members of the gate frame, as shown most clearly in Fig 4. Above the gate frame, thepolesdiverge, as shown at 31, and they. shouldbe somewhat resilient so that'they will tend to resides of the poles and passing. over the housing members to secure and hold them in place. As shown, the edges of these houslng members overlap so that they will prevent access of dirt, snow or rain laterally into the space between the poles to accumulate there n'and I clog the operation. The overlapping edge portions of the housing members are held together by retainlng bolts 36 passlng transversely through the housing and held therein by clamp nuts 37 disposed adjacent the oppositev faces of the housing members in such mannerthat; the bolts will be held against endwise movementandthe'housing members will be held in a proper overlapping relation while permitted to slide freely relativeto each other, alllas clearly shown in Fig. 5. To ac commodate the relative sliding movement of the housing members, slots 38 areformed in the sides of the; same and it may be understood that, while I have shown the slots in lz-othmembers, it is not absolutely necessary terred,-the slots may be provided only inone member. As shown in Fig. 2, a shallow-pit or gutter 40 is provided in the roadway atthe center of the same" and at sucha distance from the gate that, when the gate is lowered tov open position, asshown by dotted lines'in Fig. 2, the then lower divergent pole memthat bothmembers be slotted. and, if pre- 1 'i her 31 will enter and rest'in said gutter or pit ]While the mating pole memberwill project upwardly into the path of the axle of the car.

Consequently, as the vehicle travels over the gate, the'front axle will ride upon the upper edge'portion of the pole and will thereby r'etain the gate in its-closed position until the rear wheels of the vehicle have entered upon the gate andbe in position to prevent ethe opening :movement of the same. The resiliency of the free end portions of the poles permits the-upper pole membento yield tothe impact of the axleso that damage to the axle or the gate will be avoided andthe retaining strap 35 also serves as a track member for the axle as itproceeds over the pole. It will also be noted that the extremities of the poles are turnedinwardly, as shown at 41,

whereby as theyswingupwardly behind the vehicle they will avoid sharp'contact therewith which might cause damage to some of the parts. 7 j

The novel counter-balancing means'enr ployed by me enablesme tobuild a gate of light weight and it might ordinarily be opened by animals straying V onto the-roadway and pushing against the gate. To prevent such opening and subsequent loss of live stock, I provide upon the ends of the gate and uponthe gate posts spurs or teeth43, as shown clearly in Fig. 7, which are provided in sufiicient number to extend the full height of the gate and in staggered relation uponthegate 1 and the respective post. lVhenthe animal pushes-against the gate,;his nose will immediately rub against some of these spurs and the ensuingprickingwill cause the animal to movezback tromthe gatev before the gate is opened. "Ordinarily, the spurs need be pro vided only onone side of the gate which, of

course, is the side presented to the field in which the animals are to be kept. It will be understood, however that, if necessary, the

spurs might be provided .upon bot-hsides of thegate and the posts. V .lVhile I contemplate building gates having my improvements embodied therein, it is obvious that the several improvements may be.

pressure is releasedthey will resume their straight flat formshown in Fig. 4 This form ofthe invention embodies the leaf spring 33 shown in'Fig. 4;, although it may be noted that, F ig. 8 shows somewhat more a clearly the manner in which the spring is mounted, the ends thereof being formed into tapered teeth or spurs 4 5 entering. openings 46 in the adjacent pole members. The restraining chain 32 maybe attached to the pole members in any approved manner, but in Fig. 8 is shown as provided vat its ends with pins 47 pivotally attachedto the chains so that they may be pushed endwise through the openings {t6 and then caused to engage the inner surfaces of the poles if the chain e p ll d- Having thus described theinvention, I claim: r

1.In a gate structure,- the combination of gate posts, a gate frame mounted between the gate posts for swing-ingmovement about horizontal pivots, cables attached to the ends of the gate frame and having their intermediate portions supported by the tops of the posts at points above the gate frame and their outer ends securedat points remote from the gateposts whereby the cables will loop between the said points'and the posts,

. and a plurality. of counter-weights secured upon the cables and gradually diminishing in weightfrom the bottom of the looping portion of the cable toward the secured end thereof. I

2. In agate structure, thecombination of a gate mounted for swinging movement about .for yieldably maintaining said extending with gate mounted for 'swingingmovement in a vertical plane'- and adapted to be opened by a passing vehicle, ofgpoles secured to the gate atithe, center Ofthe same and'extending beyondthe top of the gate to be engaged by a passing? vehicle when the gate is lowered and prevent premature rising of the gate, the extended portions of said poles being resilient.

pole elements, means for yieldably holding said elements apart, and means for check- 'ing the movement ofsaid elements from each other. 5 v. .7

6. In a gate structure, the combination with a gate mounted for swinging movement in a'vertical plane, of poles secured to the opposite sides of the gate. and extending beyond the free edge thereof, the extending portions of said poles being divergent, means portions in divergent relation, and a housing extending around said divergent portions of said elements; and constructed to accommodate movement of the elements toward each other, 7 s V v '7. In a] gate structure,'.the combination with a gate mounted for swinging movement in a vertical pl-ane, ofpoles secured to apposite sides of the gateand extending beyond thefree edge thereof, the extending portions being divergent, yieldable means for moving the divergent portions apart, and a housing disposed about said divergent portions of the poles and constructed to telescope between the poles, and means securing the housings to IQO the poles, said means providing track ele-j ments to be engaged by a portion of a vehicle passing over the gate when the latter is in lowered open positionl v p In testimony whereof-I aifix mysignature.

horizontal pivots, tread members secured upon the gate between "the ends of the same and comprising side bars secured to the top and bottom elements of the gate frame,

and spaced rungs fixed to and extending between said side bars.

3, In a gate structure, thecombination of agate mounted for swinging movement f "J s. sTRnsieFnLLow. 9 

